P&S Zooms

<p>Most discussions about quality p&s refer to fixed FL ones from Nikon, Contax, Leica, and Yashica (you know the models), but I've found very little in the way of comparisons or reviews of the zoomers. I own a few fixed lens p&s, but being mostly a classic camera photographer, I don't have any zooms. I'd like to add one to my kit in the form of a p&s. I've read good things about the Rollei Prego 90 and several Leica models.</p>

<p>Do you have any favorite p&s zooms?</p>

<p>Regards,</p>

<p>Don</p>

<p> </p>

Olympus IS-30. While bigger than a Stylus zoom, it packs a sharp 28-110 zoom with stepless AF and top shutter of

1/2000 sec.

<p>I really like the Canon SureShot z180u a lot. It's very small and lightweight and has a 38-180 zoom that yields excellent pictures. It's really a nice little camera that even has focus tracking. It was one of the last of the SureShot models, made in 2004. It listed for about $180 but I lucked out big time a couple, or maybe three years ago and found one at a Goodwill store that looked brand new for $15! At the time Best Buy still had them in stock for the $180 price. Most of the SureShots are very nice. I also really like the Olympus Stylus Zooms. My current favorite is the Infinity Stylus 28-100 which happens to have a very sharp lens and is also quite compact.</p>

<p>My favorite P&S zoom camera is a Canon EOS 850 with EF 24-70mm f/2.8L mounted.</p>

<p>(Truth time: Yeah, it's a 35mm SLR, not a P&S. But it's small, and has absolutely no control options. Plus you can have as nice a lens mounted as you want.)</p>

<p>In the last year or two I bought a lot of P&S zoomers, in the hopes of finding a gem amongst the stool... So far I haven't found any gems. My sampling got sidetracked a while back, the only definitive result so far being the Minolta Freedom Zoom 140EX is crap. Great <em>looking </em>camera (gorgeous, in fact), but the lens is waaaay soft, and by the way the color is off I'd say the exposure system is little better than tinker toys. And before somebody cries "Sample variation" I want to go on record as having sampled several of these things.</p>

<p>Most P&S cameras are going for peanuts now. My IS-30 was bought new when it was current and was nearly 200 USD. Now a clean used one at KEH is around 40-50 USD. Even less on ebay. I won the later model IS-50 (28-120) for just under 9 USD plus shipping. Sharp and works like new. The Stylus zoom that Andy mentions is highly rated as well. I have the lesser model with the 28-80 that does very well. Snagged it for a few $$ more than shipping. <br />Remember, the pocketable (or nearly so) P&S have slow lenses (often topping out at a max aperture of around f11 or less). At the wide tele setting the lenses might by around f3.5 to 4.5 so they are more usable at those settings. Stick with ISO 400 to 800 film, though, and they can do a surprisingly good job.<br>

Fred- when my family had a camera shop we sold the Freedom Zoom 140EX. I never tried one, but most people who bought them were moving up from 110 or blister-packed Vivitars so they were thrilled with the results. I did warn potential customers that for a few dollars more they could move up to an SLR with normal lens, but most weren't interested. FWIW, the predecessor the the 140 EX, the one with the 38-135, was reportedly a better performer, but we never stocked it so I would only be speculating. If I found one for a few bucks I might try one, though.<br>

Long lenses models often suffer at longer settings because the lens must operate wide-open most of the time.</p>

<p>Andy just reminded me...</p>

<p>Functionally, my favorite P&S zooms are the Sure Shot <strong><em>u</em></strong> series; 130u, 150u, Z180u. After lens quality (on which I cannot comment yet) the biggest complaint on P&S cams is shutter lag time. Canon has solved this problem by adding an RT shooting mode to their last two or three generation Sure Shots (shorn of its technical detail, RT mode means no lag time).</p>

<p>Another plus for the Sure Shot <strong><em>u</em></strong> series is that they save their settings. Not just after each shot, not just after turning the camera off, but after the battery has been removed from the camera for several weeks. Nice.</p>

<p>The Olympus Stylus series are pretty good. But you nailed in the head with the Rollei Prego 90. I have one, I picked it up by chance from a camera show for $10 and it is a fantastic P&S zoom, albeit a little on the bulky side. Here is a shot from it:</p><div></div>

<p>Try looking up Pentax 928 (not the later 928M.)</p>

<p>I have a Minolta Freedom Zoom Supreme EX that I like. In some markets I think it was called a Riva 125 EX. It takes nice pics but also has an almost ridiculous array of extra features: choice of average or spot metering, wireless remote control, and some useless features like in-frame date imprinting and panorama mode. The lens is a quite decent 39-125 f3.6 and the flash exposures have always been right on. It's a good birthday party camera.</p>

 

<p>I'll back <strong>Andy's</strong> choice of the Stylus 28-100 zoom. I have several of the Stulus zooms and they're all good performers, but the 28-100 lens is a sharp little beast. The Stylus range is such an attractive and practical design, not over-featured and beautifully made. Mind you, my neighbour used a Nikon Lite Touch 38-110 zoom for years, and it's hard to fault the consistent quality he got from that...The list of candidates is probably huge!</p>

<p>The small slr or slr-style p&s seem too bulky for how I would use one -- something to carry in a jacket pocket at most. The Canon line sounds promising. I'd expect some lens quality issues at the long and short end to be the norm for most cameras in this class. The issue for me would be CA in between the long and short of it. Fred Latchaw's comments about the Canons' RT mode and saving settings -- those are deal makers -- is that the case for the entire line or only certain models in it?</p>

<p>August,, I've read good things about the 35-70 in the Riva EX line.</p>

<p>Fred, I'm looking up the 928.</p>

<p>Ralf, although the Prego is too large for what I'm looking for, I can't think of a reason not to buy one at the prices offerred. So, I 've got one on the way.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>The RT shooting mode goes back about halfway in the Sure Shot camera lineup, perhaps further. In the <em>u</em> models, that shooting mode was changed to a custom function.</p>

<p>I can thoroughly recommend any of the Contax TVS series. I have the first one and although the zoom range is short it is a useful 28 to 56mm. The quality of the camera is first rate, very solid, and it is remarkably fast in auto focus with the benefit of manual focus for 'instant' zone focussed shots. It has an exposure compensation dial and the zoom is a manual lens ring - which also activates the camera - which is quicker than the toggle switch type. One last feature to end my gushing praise is that it takes 30.5mm filters, so I have a skylight permanently attached and a yellow for black and white. Prices for the first TVS cameras are very reasonable for what you get and the images will not disappoint as they live up to the quality feel of the camera. (The later models are 50-100% more costly and, in my view, don't add much more to functionality).<br>

P.S. The Leica Minilux Zoom is disappointing in comparison to image quality with the Contax and not a patch on the truly remarkable Minilux 40mm Summarit.</p>

<p>I've had quite a few in my time. Thge notable ones are:-<br>

Fuji DL zoom- got to be the sexiest with its titanium body shell, but results only so-so.<br>

Prego 90 - the nearest to an SLR results-wise, bulky but worth it.28-90 zoom range is ideal for what I do. My copy has been snaffled by my wife, who is a Rollei fan<br>

Canon 120 Classic - not the most intuitive camera to use but gives great results, would prefer range to be wider at expense of shorter. My copy is pretty bashed about.<br>

Yashica T zoom - lovely camera, probably the smallest and best built of the lot, cracking Carl Zeiss lens gives Contax G- like slides, 28-70 zoom range. Viewfinder dioptre adjustment built in is a real bonus.<br>

Mike Pearson</p>

<p>I bought a Pentax Zoom 105 Super when it was new (1991?) and used it for quite a few years back then as my general-purpose camera. It won a few awards on release and I really liked it.</p>

<p>I remember purchasing the Rollei Prego 90 quite a few years ago in Germany for myself while at the same time picking up a Yashica 928 for my wife. If I recall correctly, at the time, those were the only P&S cameras that started at 28mm. My Prego 90 is now with my mother (as is a Olympus IS-20); my wife still has the 928 - but unused in the closet for years now.</p>

<p>I used many P&S zoom cameras, most of the time to check what they can offer compared to my High quality cameras.<br /> <strong>1st place:</strong><br /> I would say that my jaw dropped when I saw scans from<br /> <strong> Canon MegaZoom (Autoboy) 105.</strong><br /> Camera is quite big. Equipped with 35-105mm f3.5-8 lens with convex front lens. Protected by old school plastic cap. Also equipped with IR pilot. Strange beast, but lens is excellent at all focal lengths (for a zoom lens). Maybe the convex front lens is the secret? Highly Recommended.<br /> <strong>2nd place:</strong><br /> <strong> Canon SureShot 120 Classic</strong><br /> Yes, the lens is slow, starting from f4.5 @ 38mm but it's all-glass with molded glass aspheric element. Very high quality lens. Very good AF, prefocus (no shutter lag), spot metering and custom settings. Excellent ergonomics, nice function dial on the back. Excellent build quality, metal body, diopter adj... Film wind is quite loud... Great camera for sunny days.<br /> <strong> 3rd place (together):</strong><br /> <strong> Konica Z-Up 70 </strong>&<strong> Olympus Stylus 70</strong><br /> Both are great cameras.<br /> ...And I have test images from all the cameras :)<br /> <strong> </strong></p><div></div>

Thanks, Maciek. I picked up a SureShot 130u (somewhat similar to the 120 classic you mentioned), undoubtedly the first of several p&s.

<p>Don, did you get a manual with the 130u? It has some custom functions that are interesting, such as Real Time mode and Flash Mode Memory.</p>

Fred, I got the manual from butkus.org. The setup was easy and I like that it retains the settings. Fits nicely in my pocket, too. Thanks for the recommendation.

<p>I have the 130 u Sure Shot Canon and use it professionally. Some folks rankle at my not using my F90x with SB 28, but when the shots arrive, they are amazed.<br>

Film FOREVER !!<br>

Tom Loughlin Jr, Utica NY<img src="https://picasaweb.google.com/111648525214388229002/MWPAITrip20091211NYC2TomLoughlinJrCanonZ135800KodakFilm#5413871875027689330" alt="" /></p>

Fred Latchaw,

I am surprised by what you said about the

Minolta Freedom Zoom 140EX. I got great

photos from this lovely p&s: very sharp,

perfect exposure and beautiful color(I used

Kodak Ultramax 400).

https://flic.kr/s/aHskpLSpKg

<p>It is a lovely p&s, I just wish Minolta had better decisions. </p>

<p>Several years ago I had 14 of these cameras. I wasn't particularly impressed by anything that came out of any of them. If you got good results then it may mean I need to find a better lab!</p>